Olivier Giroud on his dream MLS move to Los Angeles and how he reacted to an earthquake and the tragic wildfires | OneFootball

Olivier Giroud never doubted fulfilling his dream of playing in the ever-aspirational and entertaining American football show that is Major League Soccer would be a remarkable career and life experience for him and his family.

Scoring in the final to help steer his new Los Angeles FC team mates towards US Open Cup glory last season obviously helped, the weather is perfect and having his fellow France World Cup winning team mate Higo Lloris on board helped quash any fears of being too far from his European roots at all times.

They were almost givens for France’s all-time leading goalscorer, a World Cup winner whose career has been punctuated by success in and for his country, in England, with Arsenal and Chelsea, and Italy, most recently, with Milan.

Events he was less prepared for in his first nine months Stateside included an earthquake, the tragedy of the Los Angeles fires, having his home burgled as well as some of the less rare local hazards of power cuts and mind-numbing traffic.

“The weather is slightly more enjoyable,” he says with a knowing smile to a HaytersTV question when we were among a select group of media outlets invited into the LAFC East LA training headquarters to reflect on the latest chapter of his decorated career ahead of the 30th season of high-octane MLS action.

“I always had this mental strength to always push me out of my comfort zone,” Giroud explains as he discusses his motivation to part ways with AC Milan and move his family to America last May.

“I always had an ambition to play here when the time was right.  There’s a lot of things to do.  It reminds me a bit of London, where I lived for nine years, and I really enjoy this city. This determination to be successful and always to work to improve my game. I couldn’t hope for more.”

Off the pitch, he is revelling in the chance to spend more time with his wife Jennifer and their four children whom he intends to take on a tour of other states such as Hawaii and New York.

It is all smiles apart from when he pauses to reflect on the dark side of his American adventure, most recently featuring the devastating LA fires.

He sighed: “Since I arrived in LA last summer, we had three power outages in five days of 10, 12 and 15 hours. There was a massive earthquake when we were at the training ground. The epicentre was in Pasadena. There were all the fires.  It was a really sad situation. People lost everything. I also had a personal bad experience (when his family home was burgled). Hopefully, there will be better days ahead. It’s part of life. Sometimes you have great days and sometimes tough moments.

“We thank the first responders and firefighters who did an amazing job. It made me really sad. I was scared. I hope they will put all the effort and make improvements to prevent these fires from coming again. It cannot happen that often. I try to support by giving some stuff to the people who lost everything.  This is when you need to be supportive of the people who need it.”

Giroud is generous with his time and before we leave him to finalise preparations for the season opener against Minnesota United he is asked if there has been any temptation or offers to return to London to help out Arsenal or Chelsea with their injury problems to goalscoring players this season.

He smiles that gallic Giroud smile again and concluded: “No, I’m getting old. I’ll turn 39 soon. To play in the Premier League at that age, even if you have my determination and my competitive side, I think the train has passed already.

I really enjoyed my time there. That’s why I’m grateful and blessed. If you tell me that Arsenal and Chelsea would like to sign me next year, it’s a different story. But let’s be serious! I’m here in MLS to achieve the best season I can.”

And that match against Minnesota? Giroud came on as a sub to rapturous applause; the knowing LA supporters aware their star striker’s energy levels were being managed to be able to give to his best in their Concacaf Champions Cup second leg against Colorado.